A stunning volume showcasing the magnificent court dress of the Russian Empire, culled from the authoritative collection at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, photographed with the Winter Palace as a backdrop. Prerevolutionary Russia was renowned for the glamorous and luxurious lifestyles of the nobility, with their opulent palaces and glittering social life. Now, this lavish volume reveals the incredible clothing they wore, from everyday dress and ceremonial attire (traditional holidays outfits and military uniforms) to dress for special occasions, including elaborate evening wear for theater and musical events and fancy masquerade balls. Celebrated for luxurious materials and impeccable craftsmanship, the dress of the Russian nobility was haute couture at its finest. With beautiful photography and details highlighting the hand-spun silks and lace and jeweled embroideries, Russian Splendor highlights the glamour of this gilded age and offers a fascinating window into a vanished world. Essays by Hermitage Museum curators, alongside historic Russian paintings and photographs, place the clothing in a historical context, revealing the rich cultural layers and artistic influences of czarist Russia.

The Maria Pavlovna book is pushed back yet again.... to SEPTEMBER. Come on.. it has been over a year since it was supposed to come out! I am getting slightly depressed over here, because I am really looking forward to it.

Im getting THE ROMANOVS 1613 TO 1918 BY Simon Sebag Montifore any good

Currently reading it. It is well organized and well written IMO, but do not expect too much depth to any of the characters presented. it is more of an overview of two things: who had the power and who had an affair. Still I think the book is worth the money. I am quite enjoying it.

One of our favorite authors will publish a new book in August (2016): "A gripping, vivid, deeply researched chronicle of the Russian Revolution told through the eyes of a surprising, flamboyant cast of foreigners in Petrograd, superbly narrated by Helen Rappaport." (Simon Sebag Montefiore (Author, The Romanovs)). Caught in the Revolution is Helen Rappaport's masterful telling of the outbreak of the Russian Revolution through eye-witness accounts left by foreign nationals who saw the drama unfold. Between the first revolution in February 1917 and Lenin's Bolshevik coup in October, Petrograd (the former St Petersburg) was in turmoil - felt nowhere more keenly than on the fashionable Nevsky Prospekt where the foreign visitors and diplomats who filled hotels, clubs, bars and embassies were acutely aware of the chaos breaking out on their doorsteps and beneath their windows. Among this disparate group were journalists, businessmen, bankers, governesses, volunteer nurses and expatriate socialites. Many kept diaries and wrote letters home: from an English nurse who had already survived the sinking of the Titanic; to the black valet of the US Ambassador, far from his native Deep South; to suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst, who had come to Petrograd to inspect the indomitable Women's Death Battalion led by Maria Bochkareva. Helen Rappaport draws upon this rich trove of material, much of it previously unpublished, to carry us right up to the action - to see, feel and hear the Revolution as it happened to a diverse group of individuals who suddenly felt themselves trapped in a 'red madhouse.' Hardback, 448 pages size 240 x 156 mm, in English.

The Black valet mentioned is named Philip Jordan there are brief mentions of him in the books "The Russian Revolution" Alan Moorehead and "Russia Leaves the War" George F Kennan. I think there is an article on him in a old issue of American Heritage magazine.

I just finished with the book "Former People" a fine book. The only grip I have is he didn't use LDR as a source.

I also recently sort of flipped through the last chapters of "The Romanovs" by SS Montefiore good book that could have been better should have used Moe's and Nelpa's books on Rasputin. Also should have used Nelpa's book on Alexander III

mistakes:page 539 Standart was converted to a minelayer not minesweeperPage 577 Nicholas in a Field marshalls uniform when he never wore anything but a Colonels uniformpage 643 Alexei having a accident sliding down the stairs at Tobolsk didn't happen his last hemophila attack was do to coughing.page 470 has Alexander holding up the roof of the train which according to Nelpa's Alexander III book didn't happen during the train wreck

Note I have read the authors books on "Stalin Court of the Red Tsar" and Young Stalin" and found them both to be fine books